Percy Jackson and the Hound of Hogwarts [Book 3]

22) The School Shrink

I was sitting with Draco in my room when Cedric opened the door, "Mr. Delian wants to see you, Percy." I saw that Cedric had a confused look on his face, and smiled, "Bad day in DADA. Prolly thinks I hate myself or something. I'll catch you guys later."

I swallowed, leaving my room through the walls and letting Hogwarts guide me to Delian's office.

Delian was the school's shrink. I had started going to see him at the beginning of my second year, and eventually that had become going every Friday. This made me uncomfortable, as this was a Thursday.

I walked into his office, and he smiled up at me. Before he had smiled, I could see that his eyebrows were furrowed, deep in thought.

"Percy!" He explained, standing and grinning down at me. "You came!"

"Of course I came, you're my therapist."

"You skip your therapy all of the time," Delian rolled his eyes, sitting down behind his desk. I sat across from him.

Delian looked down for a moment, then looked back up, "Professor Lupin had informed me that when the boggart became your greatest fear, it became yourself."

I nodded slowly, "Kinda sorta."

Delian tilted his head, "Kinda sorta?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Uh, it's not exactly me."

"Explain."

I frowned, "It's me if I accepted Kronos' offer."

Delian frowned, worry clear in his eyes, "What offer?"

I tapped my knee nervously, "Kronos offered me a spot in his army."

"When?"

"Every night," I mumbled, looking down.

Delian moves from his chair to beside me, "Every night?"

I nodded, "In my dreams. He won't go away."

"Kronos speaks to you in your dreams?" I nodded. "Well, that's a not so good thing. If you don't mind my asking, why were you your greatest fear?"

I looked up, frowning still, "I... I think that if I accept his offer, I'd become his host. He'd use my body, my powers, to kill everyone I care about. It'd be their blood on my hands."

Delian blinked, "Well, it's a good thing you say no, then. It's your decision to say no. You're deciding to not become that. You already have decided, Percy."

I looked up at him, "But what if I can't take it anymore? What if I just snap, and I accept? What do I do then?"

Delian gave me a gentle smile, "You won't snap, Percy. You've gone through much worse than a monster in your dreams. You'll be fine. Some day, Kronos will realize you're far too loyal to join him, and you won't have to worry about it. It'll be fine. You'll be fine."

I swallowed again, nodding. I closed my eyes for a moment, and we sat in silence for awhile.

"Percy," Delian said, and I opened my eyes. "I want you to tell me all about your quest. About the small things, the pain. The hours you spent getting places, and the big bad monsters. I want you to tell me everything."

I stared up at him, shaking my head, "I'm sure you've heart about my quest before."

"I have, but I want to hear it from you."

I sighed, shaking my head again, "Well, where do you want me to start?"

Delian tilted his head, "I want you to start from your fight with the kindly one."

I sighed, nodding. I told him about the strange room I found while in the Chamber, and about how she accused me of stealing everything. I told him everything that came afterwords, right down to the little arguments and conversations, to the feeling of perfection from my time at the Lotus Hotel and Casino. I told him every last bit.

Somehow, telling Delian about these things made me feel better. It was as if I wasn't telling everyone else, but explaining to me what had happened. Putting the pieces together so everything didn't feel as scrambled.

I told him about how Liam had betrayed me, staring at the scar that still marked my hand. It would never go away.

Sometimes I caught Luke staring at the scar. He had such a guilty and sorrowful face that it pained me. Liam was his blood brother. They shared the same mother as well as father. They helped raise each other, and I knew Luke felt guilty for not doing more for his brother.

Draco would rub his thumb over the scar sometimes, his face pained. He considered Liam to be his brother, and for Liam to just betray everything the knew for a world without the gods, hurt him beyond belief.

It was nobody's fault, really. Kronos and Liam were the only one's we could ever really blame.

I sighed, looking up, "I'm tired. I think I'm gonna go back to bed, now. I'll see you tomorrow, Delian. Have a good night."

I was nearly out the door (wall) when Delian called, "Percy!"

I looked back at him, "Yeah?"

"If you ever need anyone to talk to," Delian said, "anyone at all, I'll be here."

I smiled softly, "Thanks, Del. It means a lot."

Freaking love Del. So much. Uh, yesterday we went to this church near my house to secretly see my sister and her boyfriend. I guess we're gonna meet my dad's dad soon. When my dad was little, his parents split up, and he went with his mom. His mom got remarried, had another kid, split up with them again, and then she's married again now. But I've never met my biological grandfather. I know he's not really my grandpa, I don't really know him, but it'd be nice to meet him. I know he's tried to meet us, but my dad wouldn't let him, thus the secrecy. Also, my sister's boyfriend is going through a weird issue thing. He got 'hired' for a job. He specifically told them that he wouldn't pass the drug test for THC. He has his green card, and it's all doctor prescribed. He has Tourettes. A lot of people think Tourettes is yelling out curses, but that's not really it. It's your brain telling you that you did something wrong, and that you've got to do it again. Like, he would obsessively mow a patch of grass eight times. It also comes with twitching and some anger issues. OCD, ADHD, stuff like that. The THC was prescribed by his doctor because it helps calm it down. He has his green card. They told him it'd be fine, that he'd still be hired and they didn't even test for THC. Turns out they do test for it, and now they won't hire him. The head HR lady thinks he's hired, everyone else thinks he isn't. It's kind of weird. Right now, I'm at the school gym, waiting for Kadee to leave. She has to take ACT practice stuff today, and we had to take pictures, so we're just gonna hang out here for another twenty minutes. We've been playing Among Us a lot. It's really fun. We're also gonna play Minecraft. Emblem wants to make a creative world, get all of the stuff she needs, and then make it survival. I want just plain survival. This will be a problem when we play. We will ignore it for now. So, I was thinking of making Ron be the new Rachel, but there's only one problem. Relationships. So this is where you guys give me advice. Should Ron be the Oracle and all that jazz (he's a clear sighted ginger mortal), or should Rachel? Because Rachel won't go to school with Percy, which makes things difficult, but Ron's gonna date Hermione (probably, that may change). Should I just let him date her even if he's the Oracle, or should he be the Oracle at all? Or maybe just no Romione? I'm not sure. Help me.

Anyway, I hope you all have a good Tuesday, and I'll see you on Thursday.